Champagne bottles are used primarily as containers for carbonated or sparkling wines. In this application, the term “champagne” refers to all sparkling wines and not just those from that region of France. Champagne, being carbonated, has traditionally been contained in round heavy glass bottles because round bottles are stronger than other shapes. In recent years, aluminum beverage bottles have become accepted in the general marketplace for beverages, in part because of their appeal as an environmentally-preferable alternative to plastic bottles. The dominant use of aluminum bottles has been to contain soft drinks, beer, and sports drinks. Bottles made to be used with such beverages are designed to work with industry standard closures and caps such as the 26 mm standard crown cap, 38 mm continuous thread with plastic sleeve, and 28 mm continuous thread finishes.
The “finish” portion of a champagne bottle is the portion above the upper terminus of the neck and consists of the bottle lip and a muselet flange. Although it is feasible to manufacture a single-piece champagne aluminum bottle with a muselet flange shaped to receive a muselet, as is traditional for glass champagne bottles, such manufacturing will form a recess inside the bottle at the point where the muselet flange is located. This recess presents several problems with respect to champagne bottles. First, during the process of making champagne, the bottle is capped, typically with a crown cap, and turned upside down to enable the dead yeast to settle at the mouth. The bottle is then frozen, uncapped, and the frozen plug of dead yeast is removed. The recess thus presents a problem because the plug can get wedged in the formed recess and not expel properly. Another problem is that the cork can expand into the recess and make removal more difficult and possibly more dangerous. In addition, the recess is located near the opening and thus can interfere with the smooth flow of the contents when being poured or consumed from the bottle. Thus, there is a need for a cost-efficient means of manufacturing aluminum champagne bottles that maintain a smooth interior profile in the area of the finish.